Consumer Confidence Index

Orlando-area residents are rapidly losing confidence in the nation's economy, and the experts are wondering why.The March results of the University of Florida's Consumer Confidence Index reveal sudden pessimism in Central Florida compared with other areas of the state.Chris McCarty, director of the index's telephone survey, said Friday he is stumped by Central Florida's gloomier outlook. Several economists - who are also perplexed - said the causes could range from a statistical aberration to a deep sense of doom.

Floridians remain more pessimistic about the economy after four months of rising spirits this spring, according to the University of Florida's latest monthly survey. UF's consumer-confidence index for the state was unchanged in August, matching July's revised reading of 77, based on a survey of 415 Floridians earlier this month. July's drop was the first decline in confidence after four months of increases. Still, consumer confidence this summer is higher than it was at the start of the year.

CONSUMER CONFIDENCE in the U.S. economy declined nationally in September, with fewer people optimistic about job prospects, the Conference Board reported Tuesday. The consumer confidence index was 97.4 this month, down five points from August but higher than the 89.5 of September 1994. In Florida, better employment figures and a slowdown in inflation helped spur a small rise, a University of Florida economist reported. The Florida Consumer Confidence Index edged up from 92 in August to 93 in September.

Floridians' confidence in the economy remains higher than it was a year ago, or even last summer, but it's still in the "historically low" range as worries about housing, jobs and tourism persist, according to a University of Florida survey released Tuesday. After a revised, five-point jump in October, the monthly index slipped only one percentage point to 72 this month. "This suggests that the big increase in October was not an anomaly but a return to a higher level of confidence," said Chris McCarty, director of UF's Survey Research Center in the Bureau of Economic and Business Research.

Consumer confidence rose past expectations in January, the third consecutive monthly increase, as Americans begin to feel slightly better about business conditions and the job picture, according to a survey released Tuesday. The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index increased to 55.9 -- the highest in more than a year, but still relatively gloomy. That compares with 53.6 in December. January's index was better than the expected 53.5 forecast by economists. Economists watch confidence numbers closely because consumer spending accounts for about 70 percent of U.S. economic activity.

SOUTH FLORIDIANS lost some confidence in the economy in June because of uncertainty about their investments, according to the University of Florida's monthly Consumer Confidence Index. The pessimism, caused by higher interest rates, dragged down the entire state, despite continued high confidence by people in Central Florida. ''The decline reflects turmoil on Wall Street, not Main Street,'' said UF economist David Denslow. ''Floridians are more troubled about their stocks and bonds, not their jobs.

Key Federal Reserve policymakers gave a mixed reading of the nation's economic health Wednesday and forecast no immediate acceleration in the sluggish pace of job growth. But neither Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan nor Dallas Fed President Robert McTeer, who votes on the Fed's policy-setting committee, raised any flags at a banking conference that economic growth is in danger of faltering. Greenspan said the six-point slump in May's Consumer Confidence Index, to 61.5, fell to its lowest level since President Clinton's election, reflected a slowdown in output from an unsustainable rapid pace late last year and was not a good indicator of future economic activity.

Compared to a year ago, nearly twice as many Floridians are planning to buy a house during the next six months, a recent consumer confidence survey released by the University of Florida shows.''This will have a big impact on the Florida economy since real estate development is one of the three top industries in Florida,'' said Lucia Dunn, who directs the survey at UF's Bureau of Economic and Business Research.The big jump in consumers' plans to buy houses, Dunn said, is undoubtedly attributable to falling mortgage rates.

Floridians' confidence in the economy remains higher than it was a year ago, or even last summer, but it's still in the "historically low" range as worries about housing, jobs and tourism persist, according to a University of Florida survey released Tuesday. After a revised, five-point jump in October, the monthly index slipped only one percentage point to 72 this month. "This suggests that the big increase in October was not an anomaly but a return to a higher level of confidence," said Chris McCarty, director of UF's Survey Research Center in the Bureau of Economic and Business Research.

Floridians remain more pessimistic about the economy after four months of rising spirits this spring, according to the University of Florida's latest monthly survey. UF's consumer-confidence index for the state was unchanged in August, matching July's revised reading of 77, based on a survey of 415 Floridians earlier this month. July's drop was the first decline in confidence after four months of increases. Still, consumer confidence this summer is higher than it was at the start of the year.

Consumer confidence rose past expectations in January, the third consecutive monthly increase, as Americans begin to feel slightly better about business conditions and the job picture, according to a survey released Tuesday. The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index increased to 55.9 -- the highest in more than a year, but still relatively gloomy. That compares with 53.6 in December. January's index was better than the expected 53.5 forecast by economists. Economists watch confidence numbers closely because consumer spending accounts for about 70 percent of U.S. economic activity.

CONSUMER CONFIDENCE in the U.S. economy declined nationally in September, with fewer people optimistic about job prospects, the Conference Board reported Tuesday. The consumer confidence index was 97.4 this month, down five points from August but higher than the 89.5 of September 1994. In Florida, better employment figures and a slowdown in inflation helped spur a small rise, a University of Florida economist reported. The Florida Consumer Confidence Index edged up from 92 in August to 93 in September.

Orlando-area residents are rapidly losing confidence in the nation's economy, and the experts are wondering why.The March results of the University of Florida's Consumer Confidence Index reveal sudden pessimism in Central Florida compared with other areas of the state.Chris McCarty, director of the index's telephone survey, said Friday he is stumped by Central Florida's gloomier outlook. Several economists - who are also perplexed - said the causes could range from a statistical aberration to a deep sense of doom.

SOUTH FLORIDIANS lost some confidence in the economy in June because of uncertainty about their investments, according to the University of Florida's monthly Consumer Confidence Index. The pessimism, caused by higher interest rates, dragged down the entire state, despite continued high confidence by people in Central Florida. ''The decline reflects turmoil on Wall Street, not Main Street,'' said UF economist David Denslow. ''Floridians are more troubled about their stocks and bonds, not their jobs.

Key Federal Reserve policymakers gave a mixed reading of the nation's economic health Wednesday and forecast no immediate acceleration in the sluggish pace of job growth. But neither Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan nor Dallas Fed President Robert McTeer, who votes on the Fed's policy-setting committee, raised any flags at a banking conference that economic growth is in danger of faltering. Greenspan said the six-point slump in May's Consumer Confidence Index, to 61.5, fell to its lowest level since President Clinton's election, reflected a slowdown in output from an unsustainable rapid pace late last year and was not a good indicator of future economic activity.

The government's main index forecasting economic growth didn't budge in August, a sign that business prospects are not likely to improve much between now and next spring, economists said Tuesday.The Index of Leading Economic Indicators - a measure of future business activity in terms of construction permits, employment and factory orders, among other things - had been rising since February. The increase through July was the longest streak of gains since the index rose eight consecutive months in 1987.

One year after the stock market crash of 1929, consumers were clinging to the hope that the plunge would not permanently damage the economy. That hope was soon dashed as the country sank deep into the Great Depression by the early 1930s.Yet one year after the 1987 crash, the economy seems to have weathered the blow. It appears that the country will not slide into a depression reminiscent of that earlier era although economists say it is too early to tell.''We're certainly not out of the woods,'' said Pearson Hunt, a professor of finance at Rollins College in Winter Park.

One year after the stock market crash of 1929, consumers were clinging to the hope that the plunge would not permanently damage the economy. That hope was soon dashed as the country sank deep into the Great Depression by the early 1930s.Yet one year after the 1987 crash, the economy seems to have weathered the blow. It appears that the country will not slide into a depression reminiscent of that earlier era although economists say it is too early to tell.''We're certainly not out of the woods,'' said Pearson Hunt, a professor of finance at Rollins College in Winter Park.